Mobile issuance of official documents with biometric information encoded thereon

ABSTRACT

A system for automatically obtaining a printable photographic image of an object for a document, particularly adaptable to police traffic-ticket dispensing situations is described. A tablet computer with a stylus input display device has a video camera device associated with it that points at the object of the document, in the preferred example the object of the document being the suspect or perpetrator of the offense. Wireless communication with a printer affiliated with another computer in the police car makes printing of the ticket easy, and additional wireless connections to remote databases provides the officer at the scene with confirmation of the object&#39;s identity and additional information. The end result is a ticket or document that is self proving and can be used to confirm the identity of the holder of the document when presented. This system can also be used in transportation, commercial, and medical settings. Many additional applications for authenticating transactions of various types are described, and electronically transferable documents may be used in place of printed documents in some embodiments.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to the issuance of official documents with secureinformation incorporated thereinto, and has particular application towriting traffic tickets and the like at non-office locations by mobileofficial authorities, such as police.

2. Background

There may be other applications for this invention however, our firstapplication is to solve a problem we see in law enforcement. One of theways in which traffic tickets are validated, for example, is the use ofa signature by the respondent or suspect on the ticket. The officer willtypically retain a copy of the ticket which has an impression of thesignature thereon and a copy will be given to the recipient both ofwhich can be considered official documents. There are many instances inwhich this may not be appropriate and this invention speaks to those.The invention may have wider applicability to official documents issuedby various authorities or even commercial entities whereby the documentsbecome self-proving by virtue of the incorporation of biometricinformation into them.

Modern police patrol cars are presently outfitted with a great deal ofhigh technology equipment. By providing minimal additional equipment,the requirement for paper records can also be eliminated. An example ofthe kind of electronic equipment included in a modern police patrol caris illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,262,764 issued Jun. 17, 2001. It iscommon in police departments around the United States for computers andeven printers to be included in patrol cars. For decades, various formsof radio communication between patrol cars and police stations have beenavailable, and now computer systems within patrol cars can communicatedirectly with various back-office databases of assorted types forvarious purposes.

Additionally, identification cards carried by citizens have become morecomplex. They now contain machine-readable information in various formsand of assorted varieties along with an ordinary photograph and personalinformation related to the person carrying the identification. Oneexample can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,109 issued May 1, 2001.

Nevertheless, with all of this advanced technology available to thepolice (and to commercial entities as well), it is typical that thereceipt or official document given for a traffic citation (or even aticket to get into a concert or get on an airplane for example) does notinclude readily identifiable biometric information such as a photograph,fingerprint or computer encoded and machine-readable biometric datawhich would self prove the document as against the individual when theindividual uses the document for whatever purpose it was intended. Inthe case where the document is a traffic ticket, for example, it shouldbe clear to the individual with his picture on it that there is verylittle opportunity for denying his presence at the scene where theticket was issued Thus, the inclusion of a photograph and/or data takenfrom the individual's ID card at the scene can, if desired, substitutefor a signature in a ticket-book

Other applications to which the invention described within could enhanceinclude border control persons screening persons coming into a nation,doctors and patient situations, aircraft and ship checking of personnelfor ticketing and boarding, building entry control of building guards,delivery persons and the like. (For example a delivery person couldobtain an image to augment a signature on official documents using theinvention we describe in detail herein).

Therefore there is a strong need for portable biometric authenticationsystems and methods associated with documents and transactions that aninvention of the type described herein can accommodate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an arrest scene and the interplay of the variousparts of the inventive system and method of the preferred embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates some components useful for the invention found insideof a police car.

FIG. 3 illustrates a display of a mobile computing device used in accordwith a preferred embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a traffic citation document printed in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a mobile system preferably employing a hand-heldtablet computer with text entry capability (such as through the use of astylus), and an imaging device associated therewith (hereinafter acamera), capable of capturing digital images of the person to whom thedocument should be issued. Software in the tablet computer will producea ticket with an image on it that is taken through the use of the cameraassociated with the tablet computer. Alternatively, the capturedbiometric data (image or other biometric data) can be recorded for lateruse in association with the subject. This invention can have many usesand it is thought best to describe it with reference to a firstembodiment, that of using it in a roadside police stop situation. Thehandheld computer with the associated camera preferably will drive awireless communications port to send image data, which in the case ofthe police stop will be sent to a printer to print the ticket document.Preferably the printer is associated with a patrol car computer systemin the scene 10 where the wireless computer tablet is used.

Additionally, biometric information available either from the userdirectly (including a face photograph and/or other biometric features ofthe individual) can be taken at the scene and sent to be reviewedagainst databases including suspects for various crimes. If similardevices and methods are used in the commercial world, a camera-equippedtablet computer could send data to be checked by an office computer tomatch individuals against credit histories and other records related tothe transaction or offense under consideration. Thus, a fieldrepresentative for an insurance company could issue self provingdocuments at the scene of a house fire or place an image of a house onthe policy issued in the field.

The invention could be used in the medical world too. One use could beto match patients against their pharmaceutical prescription beforedispensing a drug. For this use the doctor could issue prescriptionsusing the inventive system so that the prescription issues with thepatient picture on it, for example, thus reducing the opportunity forfraud. Also, a ticket with the patient image on it could be part of achart to be checked against a patient in a hospital before administeringa prescribed procedure or surgery. The particular area a surgery is tobe performed could be imaged and put into the patient chart to avoid forexample, operations on the wrong side of the head or amputation of thewrong limb. Nurses could issue updated patient charts using a tablet atthe patient bedside, taking a contemporaneous picture of the patient toprint out on the patient chart. Further application can be had in themedical world and that of emergency first response teams who can loginformation into the display screen while using the imaging systemassociated with the handheld to send back data from the scene, includingbiometric data of an individual victim, for example. Use of GlobalPositioning Systems GPS in association with the handheld computingdevice would further enhance this and similar uses by automaticallyreporting an exact location in with the relevant content data and otherbookkeeping data needed to coordinate efforts of the emergency team(s).

What would be appropriate responses to information determined based onmatches of the biometric information provided at the scene with thedatabase containing records with images or other biometric data can varyconsiderably depending on the intended use. If the first use as a ticketsupplement is the use being made of the invention, the officer can benotified if the person being imaged (and/or matched against otherbiometric data) has outstanding arrest warrants by sending over theairwaves from the police car (or the tablet computer directly if it isappropriately equipped) the photographic data to a database ofphotographic data for matching against similar data for suspects and/orcitizens that will exist in the police station (or at least beaccessible through intermediate computer servers). The data the policeperson at the scene gets back from the office database(s) can becompared to the ID card. This comparison will expose the use of fakes.The comparison will also make available additional data to the policemanon the scene. Various other uses can be made of the informationavailable in databases accessible to the police network, and appropriateresponses to such data can be taken as needed. For example if the ID onthe person does not match the photographic data taken at the scene, andthe photographic data indicates that the person could be a violentcriminal, the police person may request assistance for an arrest to besafely made.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring first to FIG. 1 a typical scene 10 in which the invention canbe used, depicts a police car 14 having pulled over a suspect's car 13and the officer 11 in communication with the suspect 12 by the side of aroad 50. Using a stylus 17, the police officer 11 may enter data ontothe screen of the tablet computer 16's screen while the tablet computercamera 16 a takes a photograph 19 of the suspect 12. Informationincluding imaging information received from the camera 16 a into thetablet 16 is transmitted over wireless communications antenna 16 b tothe police car through antenna 27. A computer 25 and printer 26 (bothnot shown) are in the police car 14 to receive data from the tabletcomputer and print the ticket.

In one embodiment, the police car computer 25 will automaticallycommunicate with a computer back at the police station 20 which hasaccess to an administrative database 23 DB1 and a suspect/citizendatabase 22 DB2. (If the tablet computer contains a wirelesscommunication device such as is in a cell phone (not shown), it maycontact the police station computer system directly). A communicationsdevice and antenna 21 facilitates this communication. The administrativedatabase can log the violation information (and the biometric dataand/or captured image from the scene if desired), and the biometric dataand/or image and/or drivers license or other ID data can be checkedagainst the suspect/citizen database to confirm the identity of theindividual. The identity information can be used for various policepurposes either at the scene or later.

A tablet computer capable of performing the functions illustrated herecan be had commercially at the present time. For example, the ViewSonicView Pad 1000 contains a camera that is reversible so that the officercan point the camera at the suspect while he writes onto the display ofthe message pad computer with a stylus A handwriting recognition programis also currently available for such computers. These handwritingrecognition products have been available since the time of the AppleComputer's Newton Message Pad, or earlier. The current preferred versionat this moment is “PenOffice for Windows,” a Miscrosoft Corporationproduct.

Clearly, other tablet computers that provide the functionality describedherein would be ready substitutes for the ViewSonic device.

FIG. 2 illustrates the inside 29 of a police cruiser. Next to the wheelW of the police cruiser will generally sit a computer C and a printer P.From this Printer, in wireless communication with the computer tablethand held by the officer from FIG. 1, a ticket T can be produced.

The information from the violation ticket being established in thispreferred embodiment example should be provided contemporaneously to theback office computer database DB1 in order that the administrativefunctions and information useful for maintaining police operations canoccur without the transfer of paper from the police officer's ticketbooklet (which he will no longer have to carry) to the police station.In FIG. 3 the view the police officer will see of a typical ticketingscreen from the tablet computer is illustrated. The camera 16 a pointstoward the suspect, which provides an image on the screen at area 32.The date and time can be requested to be filled in by the officer or itcan automatically be filled in at area 33. (Use of a Global PositioningSystem (GPS) connected to the system and an on-board clock can providesuch data automatically if desired. Time data can include dateinformation from the on-board clock or from other available sources.)Offense, location, conditions, and the like, can all be filled in by theofficer at the scene using the pen entry method preferably. (Data entrycould be by keyboard or touch screen selections, or even voicerecognition if preferred). By holding the stylus or pen to areas such asarea 34 located next to the screen display area next to the displayedword “Offence”.

It is also possible that the police officer can type the information inat the computer in his car after the photograph is taken of the subjectand transmitted to the police cruiser's computer.

It is also possible to include the printer as a fixture of the hand-heldcomputer device and have that ticket printed immediately at the scenewithout the officer having to go back to his police cruiser to retrievethe ticket from a printer within the police cruiser, or if voicerecognition is acceptable that form of data entry could be used also, orinstead

In FIG. 4 an official traffic citation and receipt 40 is illustrated.Typical terms of the TEXT OF OFFENSE and the TERMS AND REQUIREMENTS forsatisfying the obligation to the authority 44 and 45 will be on theticket 41. The inclusion of an image of the offender 42 printedpreferably in color on the ticket itself provides a self-provingdocument, which prior to this invention was not available in so ready aform to the officer on patrol. It is also possible to encode (using a 2Dbar code or other printable data storage technology) a scanable field 46onto the ticket. In this way the ticket can not only be authenticated bylooking at the image of the holder 42 but also by processing through amachine reader (not shown) the machine readable information in field 46.Data for this scanable field could come from an extract of the person'sbiometric data either taken from the person's imaging data or through anadjunct biometric reader (this could be a fingerprint, iris-scan, or thelike, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,068 incorporated herein by this referenceto provide some examples of some possible biometrics). Similarly, thedata for a 2D scanable field on the ticket could be derived from dataread using a magnetic, optical or other reader of the ID card ordriver's license. Such machine readers can be in the police car,connected to or part of the tablet computer, or may be an additionaldevice connected to the tablet computer, wirelessly if desired.

It should be recognized that if the police station's database (like DB2, 22 in FIG. 1) or in the commercial situation or the medicalsituation, that information from the database which identifies theperson who has been (or will shortly be) issued the document, theidentification information will in all probability be of use to theperson using the tablet computer. Accordingly, an information retrievalpath is provided by which the office computer (which may be a server) inconnection to the relevant database should be able to send data backthrough the same wireless pathway through which it received thebiometric or image data. Thus, the data about the person being imaged orotherwise biometrically identified to the document can be displayed inan area on the display screen of the user's tablet computer. Ifpreferred, this could be done inconspicuously so as to appear as textunder a heading like OTHER REMARKS so as not to be obvious to thesuspect, in the case of the police officer/suspect scene 10 illustratedin FIG. 1. It would also be preferred that the data sent in eitherdirection be securely handled or encoded so that privacy and securityconcerns are reduced. Thus, encryption, spread spectrum, passwordprotection and the like can be associated with the communicationspathways and the data itself where appropriate.

The process will operate generally in accord with the flowchart 51 ofFIG. 5. A transaction will be started 52 by the person using thehandheld with the imaging camera on it. Data will be entered 62 into thehandheld by that user in whatever form is appropriate (voice, stylus,etc.). A user can enter 61 additional relevant data from the scene, byusing an ID reader, GPS, or just entering observations. The user willalso capture 63 photo-image digital data using the camera associatedwith the handheld tablet computer For the particular system this isbeing applied to, and for the situational circumstances, certainelements of this collected information will be relevant to send 64 toremote computers for database comparisons and other purposes. Variousforms of facial image data recognition systems exist today, and it ispreferred that the one of greatest accuracy be used. Further, irisrecognition data may also be extracted from the digital photo-image dataand compared with extracted iris biometrics. Similar biometric checkswill occur to the reader, which could provide suitable substitutes. Forexample, the police officer getting only image data regarding anuncooperative subject without an ID card may send the image data alongwith location data to the police system computers. These computers mayor may not be able to identify the subject from the image data and canlog-in the event using the location data (via a GPS reading orotherwise) and any other relevant data the officer has chosen to fill inon the display screen. The success of the match may depend on the systemused, whether this person is in the database, and whether the biometricavailable for this person in the database is the same one as the one(s)send from the scene, for example. Further, an additional biometric maybe captured through the use of a touch sensitive screen. For example, ifthe screen 33 is able to record a signature, that signature can becaptured as well as printed out onto the document if desired. The movingpressure characteristics of the signature formed by the signer whenmaking the actual signature can provide some additional identificationfeatures that are unavailable from an ordinary signature image. This toocan be shared with the various databases in a manner similar to thedigital image data and other biometrics to enhance the overall systemvalidity characteristics.

The remote computer systems will check 65 the subject's identity andother information of relevance. For example, a doctor checking a patientin an exam room could find out about health information on the patient,all of which would have the reliability of having been checked againstthe image database of patients. This information would of course be sentback 66 to the display screen on the handheld for the user to employ 67as needed.

It will be apparent that documents such as those which can be producedusing this system may also be used for tickets of transit or admissionand identification in various commercial or medical settings to supportvarious transaction types too numerous to mention, as well as fortraffic tickets. It should be recognized that documents can beelectronic and that printable versions may not always be required toaccomplish the same level of authentication and serviceability asdescribed for the printable documents, and such document usage is withinthe scope of this invention as well. It will also be apparent that thekind of biometric authentication available through use of this inventionhas many applications and uses, some of which have been described ormentioned herewithin in sufficient detail to provide potential userswith the ability to use this invention without undue experimentation.

Having described the invention in detail above, the applicant believesthe invention is limited only by the following appended claims

1-29. (canceled)
 30. An integrated tablet-computer system for producinga traffic ticket with an image thereon of a traffic-ticket recipient,comprising: a tablet computer, the tablet computer comprising a display;a reversible camera integrated with the tablet computer, the camerabeing capable of being pointed at a traffic ticket recipient while datais entered into the tablet computer display, the camera further beingcapable of obtaining a biometrically relevant feature of the trafficticket recipient at a time and vicinity in which the traffic ticket isproduced; a program for automatically associating thebiometrically-relevant feature of the traffic ticket recipient with thedata and storing the biometrically-relevant feature and the data on thetablet computer; and, a printer, the printer being integrated with thetablet computer and capable of printing a traffic ticket at the time andvicinity in which the traffic ticket is produced, the traffic ticketcomprising the data and the obtained biometrically-relevant feature. 31.The tablet-computer system of claim 30, wherein thebiometrically-relevant feature includes at least one of: and image ofthe traffic ticket recipient taken at the time and vicinity the trafficticket is produced; and scan of at least one eye of the traffic ticketrecipient, the scan being taken at the time and vicinity in which thetraffic ticket is produced.
 32. The tablet-computer system of claim 32,the scan of at least one eye of the traffic ticket recipient comprisinga scan of the traffic ticket recipient's iris.
 33. The tablet-computersystem of claim 31, the biometrically-relevant feature being encoded onthe traffic ticket.
 34. The tablet-computer system of claim 34, theencoding comprising a scanable field.
 35. The tablet-computer system ofclaim 35, the scanable field comprising a 2 dimensional barcode.
 36. Thetablet-computer system of claim 31, the reversible camera beingremovable from the tablet computer.
 37. The tablet-computer system ofclaim 37, the reversible camera being in wireless communication with thetablet computer.
 38. The tablet-computer system of claim 31, the displaycomprising a touch screen display.
 39. The tablet-computer system ofclaim 31, the printer being removable from the tablet computer.
 40. Thetablet-computer system of claim 40, the printer being in wirelesscommunication with the tablet computer.
 41. The tablet-computer systemof claim 31, the program further facilitating the capture of a signatureprovided by the traffic ticket recipient.
 42. The tablet-computer systemof claim 42, the program associating the captured signature with atleast one of the biometrically-relevant feature and the data.